NYC Urges Private Sector COVID Vaccine Mandates

New York City NY

24 August, 2021

2:12 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — Private sector leaders should follow the lead of New York City's government and set coronavirus vaccine mandates, city officials said Tuesday. Mayor Bill de Blasio and health Commissioner Dave Chokshi made a double-barreled appeal urging the city's business community to require their employees to get vaccinated. Such a requirement likely will be bolstered by FDA officials granting full approval to the Pfizer vaccine on Monday. Chokshi cast it as a final vote of confidence in the vaccine's safety and effectiveness for wary New Yorkers. "It should also come as a relief to employers who are eager to safely bring people back to work, because every activity is safer with vaccination and that includes the work in industries like retail, manufacturing, hospitality and so much more," he said. "To protect these workers, their colleagues and their patrons, I join you in calling on all private sector employers to require their staff be vaccinated. "Our city, our recovery and our health depend on a vaccinated workforce," he said. De Blasio and city officials have been steadily "climbing the ladder" of coronavirus vaccine mandates — most recently with an upcoming strict no-opt-out vaccination requirement for public school staff. But the city's ability to set mandates wider than a proof of vaccination requirement for indoor dining, entertainment and gyms appeared limited, at least so long as the vaccines themselves didn't have full federal approval. Many private businesses — such as the Barclays Center — have already instituted their own vaccination requirements to help fight against the highly contagious delta variant of coronavirus. De Blasio's and Chokshi's appeal, while carried no official weight, aimed to use their bully pulpit to usher in a wave of private vaccination mandates. Roughly 10.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been distributed so far in New York City.